“The Five Eyes alliance is sort of an artifact of the post World War II era where the Anglophone countries are the major powers banded together to sort of co-operate and share the costs of intelligence gathering infrastructure...The result of this was over decades and decades some sort of a supra-national intelligence organization that doesn’t answer to the laws of its own countries.”
—Edward Snowden
Your fearless leaders would like you to believe that the wars they enter into are sudden, unavoidable, and particular. Only they are not. Since WWII, The Five Eyes alliance has had a mutual relationship of spying on each other, for each other. Please note that this alliance did not begin and end with WWII. Rather, it was born of WWII and has been used in times of war and “peace” ever since; essentially, the monster came into being and then never went away.
This is important to keep in mind as we consider increased public/private surveillance methods in the name of “the War on Terror.” In fact, these methods were not new – Bush and his cronies simply wanted to make things a bit more transparent post 9/11 because they wanted to try out a few new tactics, knowing full well that Americans would be all: “Yeah, sure, go ahead and spy on me. I know you’re just trying to keep me safe.” In essence, the Bush administration began measures to pacify the captive audience and force their hands into allowing boundaries of privacy to erode.
Snowden tried to wake people up à la Take The Red Pill, put it wasn’t to much avail:
“Despite the impact of Snowden's disclosures, some experts in the intelligence community believe that no amount of global concern or outrage will affect the Five Eyes relationship, which to this day remains one of the most comprehensive known espionage alliances in history.”
http://news.yahoo.com/experts-us-spy-alliance-survive-snowden-104228309.html
The significance of this should be obvious:
“The Five Eyes agencies are seeking not only to defeat the spirit and purpose of international human rights instruments, they are in direct violation of their obligations under such instruments.”
https://giswatch.org/en/communications-surveillance/unmasking-five-eyes-global-surveillance-practices
If five nations can indiscriminately listen to your phone calls, hack your emails, and collect your electronic data – as Snowden has already shown that THEY DO – how are we not already outraged? Some might say, “well, if you don’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” Bullshit. Charlie Chapman was on their watch list way back when because of his suspected connections to communism. Princess Diana was on the watch list for speaking out against the international use of landmines. Did they deserved to be spied upon? Were they a threat to Western Civilization? Any humane sympathy or argument for freedom of thought/expression could potentially put you on a future list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes
1984 shit is real and getting realer, folks. Blogs that criticize such government machinations could be spied upon, and any number of consequences could result. This is not just a matter of Protection From Terrorism; this is the fact that these methods are in place, the boundaries and rights of citizens are eroded, and the more advanced it gets the more powerless the public is to do anything about it. The media tries to tell you that the repeal of the Patriot Act means you get some of your privacy back, but that just isn’t true. Repealing the Patriot Act just means certain wording (read: specific excuses) relating to spying cannot be utilized. But the act of espionage, and its extent, has not been changed as a result of the repeal.
http://www.nestmann.com/even-if-congress-repeals-the-patriot-act-youll-still-have-zero-electronic-p#.VlSlj8KFOUk
In Article 17 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.” Do you feel like you are protected by this? Or, do you have the sense that most people do not even know about such an international political right, and therefore the government feels free to exploit it?
Furthermore, terrorism is not even be the main impetus behind such surveillance. The New Zealand herald reports: “But the Snowden papers show that counter-terrorism is at most a minor part of the GCSB's operations. Most projects are assisting the US and allies to gather political and economic intelligence country-by-country around the world.” No wonder no one cared about the real of the Patriot Act – it’s a dinosaur anyway!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11411759
So why do the US spy on its own citizens? Is it to suss out terrorists? Is it to spy on corporations/businesses to watch the flow of capital? Is it to make sure those with dissenting opinions don’t get too loud? Is it all just for New World Order control? What the hell is happening?
—Edward Snowden
Your fearless leaders would like you to believe that the wars they enter into are sudden, unavoidable, and particular. Only they are not. Since WWII, The Five Eyes alliance has had a mutual relationship of spying on each other, for each other. Please note that this alliance did not begin and end with WWII. Rather, it was born of WWII and has been used in times of war and “peace” ever since; essentially, the monster came into being and then never went away.
This is important to keep in mind as we consider increased public/private surveillance methods in the name of “the War on Terror.” In fact, these methods were not new – Bush and his cronies simply wanted to make things a bit more transparent post 9/11 because they wanted to try out a few new tactics, knowing full well that Americans would be all: “Yeah, sure, go ahead and spy on me. I know you’re just trying to keep me safe.” In essence, the Bush administration began measures to pacify the captive audience and force their hands into allowing boundaries of privacy to erode.
Snowden tried to wake people up à la Take The Red Pill, put it wasn’t to much avail:
“Despite the impact of Snowden's disclosures, some experts in the intelligence community believe that no amount of global concern or outrage will affect the Five Eyes relationship, which to this day remains one of the most comprehensive known espionage alliances in history.”
http://news.yahoo.com/experts-us-spy-alliance-survive-snowden-104228309.html
The significance of this should be obvious:
“The Five Eyes agencies are seeking not only to defeat the spirit and purpose of international human rights instruments, they are in direct violation of their obligations under such instruments.”
https://giswatch.org/en/communications-surveillance/unmasking-five-eyes-global-surveillance-practices
If five nations can indiscriminately listen to your phone calls, hack your emails, and collect your electronic data – as Snowden has already shown that THEY DO – how are we not already outraged? Some might say, “well, if you don’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” Bullshit. Charlie Chapman was on their watch list way back when because of his suspected connections to communism. Princess Diana was on the watch list for speaking out against the international use of landmines. Did they deserved to be spied upon? Were they a threat to Western Civilization? Any humane sympathy or argument for freedom of thought/expression could potentially put you on a future list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes
1984 shit is real and getting realer, folks. Blogs that criticize such government machinations could be spied upon, and any number of consequences could result. This is not just a matter of Protection From Terrorism; this is the fact that these methods are in place, the boundaries and rights of citizens are eroded, and the more advanced it gets the more powerless the public is to do anything about it. The media tries to tell you that the repeal of the Patriot Act means you get some of your privacy back, but that just isn’t true. Repealing the Patriot Act just means certain wording (read: specific excuses) relating to spying cannot be utilized. But the act of espionage, and its extent, has not been changed as a result of the repeal.
http://www.nestmann.com/even-if-congress-repeals-the-patriot-act-youll-still-have-zero-electronic-p#.VlSlj8KFOUk
In Article 17 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.” Do you feel like you are protected by this? Or, do you have the sense that most people do not even know about such an international political right, and therefore the government feels free to exploit it?
Furthermore, terrorism is not even be the main impetus behind such surveillance. The New Zealand herald reports: “But the Snowden papers show that counter-terrorism is at most a minor part of the GCSB's operations. Most projects are assisting the US and allies to gather political and economic intelligence country-by-country around the world.” No wonder no one cared about the real of the Patriot Act – it’s a dinosaur anyway!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11411759
So why do the US spy on its own citizens? Is it to suss out terrorists? Is it to spy on corporations/businesses to watch the flow of capital? Is it to make sure those with dissenting opinions don’t get too loud? Is it all just for New World Order control? What the hell is happening?